


Sephiroth - No Statements

by goddamnitaisha



Series: Sephiroth Without Jenova Cells [2]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-26
Updated: 2019-09-26
Packaged: 2020-10-28 18:48:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20783375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goddamnitaisha/pseuds/goddamnitaisha
Summary: [AU in which Sephiroth's enhancement failed] Sephiroth finds Hojo in his home, discovers he is dead. Limited emotional reaction.Written for dear Crimson-Sun on Tumblr.





	Sephiroth - No Statements

**Author's Note:**

> Crim originally had a different first name for Simon Hojo. It is nowadays considered cringe-worthy, so Crim calls it his 'Wutai' name, and doesn't share it, but still considers it canon.

Like every Wednesday, Sephiroth stops by at 3 to bring Hojo fresh groceries from the super market. He’s got two bags hooked on one arm, that are filled to the brim with healthy foods. 

He uses the key to open the door, and notices there is a vein on his arm that pops out, is he getting that old? He turns the key, but the front door is still on the night lock. 

Sephiroth sighs, _forgetful old man,_and rings the doorbell. And rings. Not a sound. 

He calls him, and as he holds the phone to his ear he stares absent-mindedly at the nameplate below the house number. The golden nameplate reads Pr. Dr. S. Hojo, but Sephiroth knows it's wrong. The S for Simon should be a C, but that Wutaiian name is something the old man left behind. Sephiroth knows it's not his heritage Hojo is actively trying to forget, it's the name itself. 

No answer on his mobile phone either.

Sephiroth contemplates if he should just enter. A broken door would expose an elderly person, certainly someone as unpopular and infamous as Hojo himself, to certain dangers. Burglary. Talk about the visit of a locksmith would fill up the silences though.

Sephiroth presses the metal door gently and it gives way. Inside, it is quiet. It smells like musk and unopened windows and hyacinth: the plant is right by the door. Sephiroth had given it to the Professor. A scan through the rooms leads to nothing. He is not in the tiny garden, either. 

He climbs the stairs. He’s not been upstairs in many years and doesn’t remember the hallway. He knocks, but it turns out that door leads to the bathroom. It’s dark inside and a spider in the corner is dead so he plucks it out of its webbing and flushes it through the toilet. 

The next door is the closet, with a folded-up Christmas tree he hasn’t seen in years. The extra key that is on the window sill betrays that Hojo has no romantic escapades. It reminds him of a conversation the had a long time ago: _Professor, there is no use to making conversations with women twenty years younger than you. Your dick is like a Christmas tree:_ _it is dead from the root up, it stands only once a year, and the balls are just for decoration. __Get drunk indoors so I don't have to pick you up._ He closes the closet door that now hides the Christmas tree again. Sephiroth is smiling to himself. 

Then the third room, is the bedroom. He has not been here since Hojo moved in many years ago. The walls are decorated with drawings, photos, fanart, posters, advertisements commercials. Sephiroth steps into a kaleidoscope of himself, and the thousand self-stares he gets are unnerving than a mirror house. 

He finds Hojo in bed, fast asleep?

“Professor.”

Dead. 

He lies there, calmly. His face looks infinitely more gentle with his hair tousled (”you should braid it before sleeping”). His glasses are on the nightstand. The serene look and manner of death strike him as unfair.

Sephiroth calls Shin-Ra. Tseng is as socially competent as not to say, _I’m sorry for your loss. _He just ‘hm-hms’, and says, _we will pick up the remains._

Sephiroth glances around the room. He turns on the television. The news plays. In a few hours, there will be propaganda reels of how wonderful Hojo was, and how much he contributed to science. Sephiroth will be asked for statements. 

He presses the EJECT button on the old-fashioned video player, and the device opens its beak and spits out a videotape. It is a security camera video of them in the science department, the label thorn off. He puts it in a videotape box, will take it home. Then the news item shifts to a music item, but Sephiroth has no appetite for JOIN SOLDIER propaganda. He switches off the television.

Sephiroth turns around. He leaves. He is about to close the bedroom door, then glances in one last time. He looks at the old man’s face. Then he closes the door for good. 

He doesn’t attend the closed casket funeral. 

But he makes sure Hojo’s full name is written correctly everywhere.


End file.
